Tour of Fifty States: Alabama's meal

Menu: Barbecued Chicken served with White Barbecue Sauce, Creamed Corn, Cheese Biscuits, Blackberry Cobbler
Outcome:  First, we didn't have the cobbler.  I forgot to buy the frozen blackberries!  It's a dessert that we will make in the future; I may just wait until the fresh ones are available.  The white BBQ sauce is surprisingly very good!  I doubt if I will give up my beloved SC mustard BBQ sauce, but this is quite tasty.  If you have a Jim 'N Nick's BBQ restaurant near you, you just have to try their cheese biscuits.  They are simply heavenly and the "copycat" recipe I found on the internet is perfect.  Very easy to whip up and very light and fluffy, like muffins.
Next up:  Bridget's turn!  She chose South Carolina!  Woohoo!

Alabama's meal

White Barbecue Sauce

At many barbecue joints in Alabama, white barbecue sauce is the sauce of choice. It's generally a mayonnaise-based sauce, made tangy with the addition of vinegar, horseradish, and mustard. Fans of white sauce say that once you've doused your barbecued chicken in this sauce, you'll never go back to red.

Prep time:  5 min. 

Ingredients

• 2 cups mayonnaise 
• 6 Tbsp. white wine vinegar 
• 2 Tbsp. coarsely ground pepper 
• 1 Tbsp. Creole mustard 
• 1 ½ tsp. salt 
• 6 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 4 tsp. sugar 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• 2 tsp. prepared horseradish

Directions

1.   Whisk together all ingredients until blended. Store in the refrigerator up to 1 week.

2.   Spread over hot grilled chicken pieces.

Makes 2 cups.

Grilling at 40 degrees on Feb 14!  Brrr!  

Cheese Biscuits

This recipe is a "copycat" for the famous cheese biscuits that are sold at Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q restaurants, which first opened in Birmingham in 1985.

Prep time:  15 min.  Cook time:  15-20 min.

Ingredients

·         1 ¼ cups flour

·         1 ½ tsp. baking powder

·         ¾ cup sugar

·         ¾ cup buttermilk

·         2 eggs, beaten well

·         4 Tbsp. butter, softened

·         ¼ tsp. vanilla

·         1 ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese

·         ½ tsp. salt

Directions

1.  Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 º F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan.

2.  Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl and set aside. Whisk egg, milk, butter, and vanilla together in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

3.  Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend.

4.  Divide batter evenly among greased muffin tins.

I also sprinkled a little cheese on top of each one!

 Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

5.  When fully baked, the tops of the biscuits will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the biscuits will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each biscuit from the pan.

Makes 10 to 12 biscuits.